Sacko stakes a claim

It’s fair to say that when Leeds fans saw that Hadi Sacko was coming on after 64 minutes, with Leeds 2-0 down, most of them weren’t that impressed.

Sacko found life tough under Thomas Christiansen earlier this season and you could be forgiven for thinking his race had been run at Elland Road, but he turned in an impressive performance and proved that the whole squad are working under a clean slate after the arrival of Heckingbottom.

“He's impressed that's why he was in there,” said the Leeds boss after the game. “I’ll judge people on what I see and that's it.”

And he proved true to his word, with Vernon Anita also getting a rare start. A penny for Mateusz Klich's thoughts..

Heckingbottom passes the armband around

Eunan O’Kane was made skipper for Leeds’ defeat to Sheffield United last weekend and it would appear that Heckingbottom was not overly impressed with his performance, as the armband went to Pablo Hernandez on Sunday afternoon.

The Spaniard appeared to relish the leadership role, as he was easily Leeds’ most involved player and was extremely vocal on the pitch, keeping his head when most of those around him were losing theirs in the first half.

With club captain Liam Cooper having now served his suspension and available to face Derby, will we see a third captain in three games under Heckingbottom?

The Elland Road fans really are a twelfth man

Sunday afternoon was a lesson in how fans can influence a game.

The boos rang out at half-time following Leeds’ poor performance, with supporters quick to cheer Felix Wiedwald every time he caught the ball after his error for the first goal.

Leeds continued to toil after the break and a section of fans decided to take the mickey.

‘Going up, going up, Leeds are going up,’ they sang, embracing the gallows humour that often surfaces around Elland Road this time of year.

A bellowing ‘Marching on Together’ followed, as did a rousing ‘WACCOE’ and within minutes Leeds had scored.

With the ground bouncing, the players all responded and a second followed - and it wasn’t a coincidence that the goals came after this show of support from the fans.

Confronting the set-piece problem

The games come thick and fast this week, with this the first of three matches in seven days for Heckingbottom’s men.

Heckingbottom saw his side concede from a set-piece again (Image: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)

That will limit the amount of time the Leeds boss can spend with his players on the training pitch, which, given their defending at set-pieces against the Robins, is a shame.

Not that Heckingbottom is pointing the blame at any individuals. When asked if improving his side's defending was a priority after the game he said: “It's all together. All together so we defend as a team, we attack as a team, so you know you'll never get me to single anyone out, a unit out.”

Heckingbottom already making Saiz work

Following the final whistle Paul Heckingbottom was quickly asked about the return of a Samu Saiz, who has finally completed his six-match ban.

He's on the way back, Leeds fans! (Image: Harry Trump/Getty Images)

Heckingbottom acknowledged that he's seen plenty of the Spaniard in action this season and his return will boost the squad, but was quizzed about his fitness, having been out for so long.

And it would appear from Heckingbottom's comments, the new regime are working the playmaker harder than Thomas Christiansen did.

"He's worked hard," said the Leeds boss. "Again, I don't know what he's been doing before but we've worked him hard for two weeks. He's been moaning about his legs being tired but he's been working hard as have the other boys and they're desperate to get back involved."